School Notes 5/6/2013

Artwork from one high school senior will hang in U.S. Rep. Tom Marino's office for the next year.

The charcoal-on-canvas drawing of a railroad bridge surrounded by trees is a one-point perspective created by Allison Coller.

The senior's artwork was entered in the Congressional Arts Competition and won third place and a spot on the representative's wall.

The photo, which was required to portray a scene native to Northeast Pennsylvania, will hang for the next year.

This is Allison's second year taking art. Although she enjoys the subject, she said it is more of a hobby.

A member of the National Honor Society, Allison is also on student council and prom committee and in Future Business Leaders of America, SADD club and on the volleyball team.

She will attend Penn State main campus next year to study nursing.

kbolus@timesshamrock.com

Carbondale Area

Last weekend, Christina Carachilo narrated the tale of "The Fox and the Wolf."

It was just one of the stories recreated in the high school drama club's show.

The seventh-grader was part of a production of "Once Upon A Time ... Stories from Aesop and Grimm."

"I know both young and old will really enjoy it," she said.

rbrown@timesshamrock.com

Delaware Valley

Senior Matthew Hommel earned a first-place medal at the Skills USA Industrial Motor Control district competition.

"Being involved in Skills has helped me to realize the career paths I find most interesting," Matthew said. "It also gave me the confidence needed to pursue higher goals and to never give up on them."

He is a member of the National Honor Society, as well as raising money for Relay for Life.

"Volunteer work has really opened my eyes to the importance of the good citizens around the world that help those who need it," Matt said.

He plans to attend Penn State University in the fall.

lzaccagnino@ timesshamrock.com

Dunmore

James McHale volunteers his time serving on a committee for the Roast of Butchie Bistocchi, a fundraiser for the Northeast Regional Autism Center at Friendship House, for his senior project.

The 17-year-old junior has been working on advertising the May 17 roast and visiting the Friendship House to see how the funds will be used.

"I wanted to use my senior project to help my community, and this organization is to perfect way to accomplish that," James said. "This fundraiser helps the Friendship House and helps to raise awareness for autism."

kwind@timesshamrock.com

Elk Lake

Senior Miranda Silfee placed in the top 10 at the recent Future Business Leaders of America state competition in Accounting II.

"We have a regional competition and ... I placed first in the region. After that, I had an at-home test and then had to go to Hershey for another online test," Miranda said.

Miranda is assisting with prom steering and is a member of the National Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society.

She plans on attending Bloomsburg University to major in accounting.

lzaccagnino@ timesshamrock.com

Forest City Regional

She's been to Italy, Greece, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.

Kirsten Bailey is only a senior, but she is already well-traveled because of her participation in the People to People student ambassador program.

"Once you've traveled once, you'll travel again," she said. "I loved them all. I want to continue traveling even if it isn't the ambassador program."

The Holy Cross senior is part of the club in charge of the school's recycling program.

"It was beautiful," he said. "The vibe of the trail was so serene."

He is also a member of the foreign language club and National Honor Society, and Kerry plays soccer, basketball and tennis.

kwind@timesshamrock.com

Mid Valley

Chantal Whiteduck has performed on stage since fourth grade.

This month, she'll take on her biggest role, playing Connie, a veteran in the upcoming production of "War Bonds."

The sophomore said her largest supporting role yet has been a challenge, with more lines than she has had to memorize before. She is looking forward to the final curtain call and hearing the audience's reaction.

"I love making people feel emotions," she said.

rbrown@timesshamrock.com

Montrose Area

Theresa Staats designed her own gown.

The dress was part of a 4-H project Theresa worked on. She will debut the high-low, off-the-shoulder frock at her senior prom.

During her time as a designer, Theresa said she learned a lot about time management. She will now focus on graduation and said she is looking forward to prom and cannot wait to wear her dress.

kbolus@timesshamrock.com

Mountain View

Emmillie Miller and other members of the Future Business Leaders of America held an Easter basket raffle.

With donations from club members and family members, Emmillie and the group created the baskets and sold tickets during lunch. The raffle was held at the end of March. Items in the basket included a Kindle Fire and a $25 gift card.

This was Emmillie's first year helping to organize the fundraiser.

Emmillie is a member of the Reading Olympics, ski club, drama club, jazz band and track and field.

In the future she would like to pursue writing.

kbolus@timesshamrock.com

Old Forge

Senior Warren Welsh took advantage of a job-shadow opportunity at Lockheed Martin in Archbald last month.

During his visit, he talked with several engineers and acquired valuable information about potential job opportunities.

After he graduates next month, Warren plans to major in chemical engineering at Ohio State University in the fall.

Riverside

Kaleb Jones will represent Riverside High School at a Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership seminar later this month.

The son of Jason and Lisa Jones will be among 250 other students from across Northeast and central Pennsylvania participating in the seminar at Shippensburg University. The seminars bring together groups of high school students to spend time with business, government and education leaders to discuss issues in a learning environment.

Scranton

Five West Scranton High School students attended a dinner and presentation at the University of Scranton, which was sponsored by the university's Department of World Languages and Culture.

The event featured University of Scranton teaching assistants in the Fulbright program, who presented information on the countries of their birth. The West Scranton students who attended the event were Heather Schmidt, Cara Anzulewicz, Alexa Anzulewicz, Cassie Merrill and Felisia Gonie, all from the Spanish classes of Maureen Walsh.

shofius@timesshamrock.com

Valley View

For his strong academics, maturity and excellent character, sixth-grader Cody Betachini will have the chance to attend a leadership program this summer.

He was nominated by his teacher, Jessica Munley, to attend the 2013 Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C.

Cody is also involved in the basketball team and Little League.

rbrown@timesshamrock.com

Wayne Highlands

Ryan Fritz and Tristan Protzman are an integral part of the Wayne Highlands Middle School Science Olympiad team, providing leadership and setting an example for the younger students on the team.

The dynamic duo has collected many medals throughout this year. At the Comet Invitational in February, they placed second in the Shock Value category, fourth in Mission Possible and fifth in Mousetrap Vehicle. In the regional competition in March, the pair earned third place in Shock Value, fourth place in Mission Possible and eighth place in Mousetrap Vehicle. At the Pennsylvania state competition this month, they earned a fourth place for Shock Value.

Western Wayne

Three eighth-grade students once again helped their teams in the NEIU Reading Competition hosted at Western Wayne last week.

Ashley Sheard and Jack Van Horn, both on English teacher Carrie Krautter's team, and Jacob Karnick, on English teacher Grace Piconi's team, have been competitors for the past three years.

"It's fun to be with friends and discuss the books," Ashley said. "Sometimes we make up questions to help us prepare."

Jack added that "the reading lists introduced me to a lot of good books ... because they will put just the first of a book in a series on the list, then you want to go and read the rest of the series."

The fifth-grader, who has been playing piano for more than four years, auditioned for the first time at Marywood University to qualify for the Carnegie Hall honor and received a perfect score and two bonus points.

"Before the recital I was nervous but when I got on stage, it felt easy," she said. "I hope I can return to perform again in two years."

A member of the Scranton Young Musicians Society and the National Piano Guild, she practices for at least 30 minutes every day and likes difficult pieces by Beethoven and Bach.

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